They Dated?! 20 Shocking Former Celebrity Couples

Celebrities are a fickle bunch, especially when it comes to their personal lives. In fact, many of them have past relationships that few of us even know about. Take Amy Poehler, for example. The "Parks and Rec" star admitted to Howard Stern that after her divorce from Will Arnett, she rebounded with John Stamos. Weird!

Another example of a shocking celebrity union: Pink admitted to Glamour last year that she dated N'Sync member Joey Fatone. 

This got us thinking about other stars who've dated fellow famous folks in the past, most of whom we've either forgotten about as couples, or never knew were couples at all. Read on for some shocking celebrity relationships!

Amy Poehler and John Stamos: After her divorce from Will Arnett, the "Parks and Recreation" star  rebounded with none other than hot Uncle Jessie. Poehler admitted as much on on "The Howard Stern Show," saying: "We worked on a movie. He did a little bit in a movie that I did and a bunch of us hung out. And then later on he's like, 'Let's go get dinner. And it was fine. I remember thinking like, 'Oh, s–t. Like, if this is really a date…' I think I was wearing a Leslie Knope top. I think I was wearing a shirt from work."

If you're wondering if anything more happened with Stamos, Poehler assured Stern she "didn't f–k" him."

Pink and Joey Fatone: In the June 2013 issue of Glamour, Pink opened up about some of her past loves—and this one was a shocker. "Joey Fatone was in love with me," she said, referring to the 'N Sync star. "He took me to Friendly's on a date and he bought me an ice cream. Such a sweetheart. He asked my dad's permission!" Between her pink hair and his shockingly bad red dye job, we think they would have been an early Aughts red carpet match made in heaven.

Cher and Tom Cruise: Back in the early 1980s, Cher and "Top Gun" hotshot Tom Cruise were a couple. In February 2008 on "Good Morning America," the iconic singer revealed that he wasn't a Scientologist when they were seeing each other, and that he was "just the most adorable man you can imagine."

Ashley Olsen and Lance Armstrong: Lance Armstrong certainly gets around. Between Tory Burch and Sheryl Crow, we weren't sure there were many high profile ladies left! But back in 2008, he had eyes for a younger A-lister: Ashley Olsen. They were spotted getting hot and heavy numerous times at New York hotspots. We guess blonde fashion designers are his weakness!

Katie Couric and Bob Saget: Couric told Howard Stern she indeed went out on a date with the comedian, but it wasn't meant to be. He "was fun, he was really fun," Couric said. "I had fun, I don't think I did it for him." As for Saget never calling? "That's alright," she assured Stern.

Natalie Portman and Moby: Um, what? Electronic musician and notable vegan Moby dated Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman back in 2001, long before her "Black Swan" days. They only dated for a few months, but remained close friends after.

Sofia Vergara and Enrique Iglesias: Although Enrique Iglesias' most famous relationship is with Anna Kournikova—whom he began dating in 2001—he previously dated "Modern Family" star Sofia Vergara. Back in those days, he was the household name—but that's pretty much changed.

Tyra Banks and Seal: Before he was Mr. Heidi Klum (and before they divorced and Klum started dating her bodyguard), Seal dated Tyra Banks back in 1996. They made one public appearance as a couple at the Essence Awards, and parted ways shortly thereafter.

Ellen Barkin and Johnny Depp: Prior to dating Kate Moss, Depp was involved with actress Ellen Barkin—who was 40 at the time (he was 30). Oddly enough, she actually sort of looked like a 2013 version of Kate Moss back then!

Minka Kelly and Donald Faison: Before her relationship with Derek Jeter and "Captain America" Chris Evans, Minka was getting cozy with our favorite Bronson Alcott High School alum in 2005: Donald Faison, primarily known for "Clueless," "Scrubs," and marrying Jessica Simpson's former assistant Cacee Cobb. They were actually adorable!

Madonna and Dennis Rodman: The eccentric basketball star and equally eccentric singer had a fling in 1994, and later in his autobiography "I Should Be Dead By Now," he claimed Madge was desperate for his child. He recalled receiving a phone call from her while he was away, stating: "It was like the 'somebody died call' from New York. I picked up the phone and Madonna was like, 'I'm ovulating, I'm ovulating. Get your ass up here.'"

Helen Hunt and Matthew Broderick: It's hard not to imagine Broderick trolling the West Village with glamorous wife Sarah Jessica Parker and their adorable kids these days, but back in 1987 he was involved with actress Helen Hunt. The duo obviously didn't work out—but they remain close friends. On the flip side, SJP dated the late JFK Jr. and Robert Downey Jr. before settling down with Broderick.

Helen Mirren and Liam Neeson: While working on the 1981 film "Excalibur," Neeson and Mirren struck up a relationship. They even lived together during the early 1980s, and he once told James Lipton on "Inside the Actors Studio" that she helped him score an agent.

Julia Roberts and Daniel Day-Lewis: The famous actors dated for a bit in 1995.

Sheryl Crow and Owen Wilson: While many associate Crow with Lance Armstrong, and Wilson with Kate Hudson, this rootsy couple actually dated for a bit in the early 2000s,

Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal: It's hard to not think of him dating Reese Witherspoon or Taylor Swift, but back in 2006, Gyllenhaal was involved with Natalie Portman. If there's one thing we've learned from all this, it's that famous people really just love other famous people.

Elsa Pataky and Adrien Brody: This is a wild one. Spanish actress Pataky dated Brody, who bought her an actual castle in 2008. According to Hello! magazine, Brody purchased a 19th-century estate surrounded by forest in upstate New York, and girlfriend Pataky by blindfolding her before unveiling it to her on her birthday. When I saw the castle, I asked Adrien, 'Is this ours?' the Spanish beauty told the magazine. He said, "Yes – welcome home." As it turns out, the couple didn't last, and Pataky married burly actor Chris Hemsworth—the complete opposite of Brody in every way.

Tara Reid and Carson Daly: Back when he was the host of "Total Request Live" and she was actually a working actress, Reid and Daly were a paparazzi favorite. They became engaged in 2000, but ultimately called it off when it was clear that they were a 1990s couple and it was probably best to remain that way.

Alanis Morissette and Ryan Reynolds: Okay, so these two were actually engaged and involved for years, but sometimes we totally forget these Canadian superstars were together. They dated from 2002 until 2007, and Morissette has admitted to writing break-up songs about him. After Alanis, his type seemed to changed drastically, as he married Scarlett Johansson, then Blake Lively.

Which onetime celebrity couple surprised you most?!

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12 Games from Science Fiction and Fantasy we'd love Real versions of

Over the weekend there was news that Tall Card, the fictional poker-esque card game played by the Serenity Crew in Firefly was becoming a real-word product. Here's 12 awesome card and board games from across Sci-Fi and Fantasy that we'd love to get real versions of too.

12. Hearthstone, World of Warcraft

Err What, I hear you cry. You can already play Hearthstone!

Yes, Blizzard's annoyingly addictive card game set in the Warcraft universe might already be a video game in our world, but there's a physical version of it that denizens of Azeroth play as well, and who wouldn't love some ornate Hearthstone cards of their own to play with?

The 'real' Hearthstone and its players were added to World of Warcraft with patch 5.4, and the latest expansion, Warlords of Draenor, is adding multiple vanity items to the game so your own characters can pretend to play it in between thwacking monsters in the face. So in a round about way, a real-world video game has become a fictional card game in another video game, and hopefully one day that'll become a real card game in our world. I think I got that right.

11. Tadek, Farscape

A running theme amongst games that show up in sci-fi and fantasy is that basically, if they're not a card game (which is usually 'fancy poker'), they're usually 'fancy chess'. Take Tadek for instance, the favoured past time of Rygel, which involved moving around clear gem-like piecess around a chequered board in stacks as they lit up. Very pretty indeed.

Tadek centred around a player's ability to bluff their opponent as much as it did actual strategy, so essentially just like real chess. But this one lights up!

10. Fizzbin, Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek might just be the motherlode of fictional games - from 3D Chess to Kadis-Kot to Kal-Toh in the header image, to that space-snakes-and-ladders from the worst episode of DS9 and even the ultimate gaming platform, the Holodeck, the Trek universe is filled with oodles of games. That said, Fizzbin definitely has to be the one I'd love to see in the real world.

Made up virtually on the spot by Kirk in A Piece Of The Action, Fizzbin was meant to come from Beta Antares IV and could be played with standard Earth playing cards. It was essentially poker with a bunch of weird names for hands and cards, but what's most interesting about it is that in Deep Space Nine, Quark offers to teach the game to Odo, over a hundred years after the events of that TOS episode. So at some point after the Enterprise's five year mission ended, Kirk remembered Fizzbin, made some rules for it and marketed the damn thing. Who doesn't want to play a card game coming from the awesome, slightly crazed mind of James T. Kirk?

9. Triad, Battlestar Galactica

Oh, the citizens of the Twelve Colonies and their strange fear of rectangles. The might have trimmed all the corners off their books and documents, but they took it even further with the playing cards for Triad, which were just Hexagons!

Triad (called Pyramid in the original BSG - Moore accidentally swapped the card game and the basketball-esque game's names around and they stuck), like I mentioned above, really is Space Poker - according to the cast, the producers hadn't come up with rules for the game so they had to improvise playing it, essentially turning it into Poker with different symbolic suits to the cards we're more familiar with. Maybe Triad inspired Earth Poker? I'd love a set of those playing cards though.

8. Wicked Grace, Dragon Age: Origins

From Space Poker to Fantasy poker this time, with this game from the first Dragon Age video game.

Wicked Grace, a strictly two player game is similar to Poker in that it was about matching cards together for the best hands, but instead of trying to get sequential cards, it was about matching suits together. Players start with a 5 card hand and discard and draw cards until the 'Angel of Death' appears in the deck, at which point your hands are revealed - those with the best set of matched suits would win. What was cool about it that Rogue-classed Wardens in the game could learn the Duelist specialisation by besting Captain Isabela at the game - there aren't many Rogues out there who can say they got into sword fighting due to winning a game of cards, are there?

7. Azad, The Player of Games

This game from the second book in Iain M. Banks' Culture series, was pretty much the ultimate Board Game - an entire Empire was built around it.

Azad, named after the Azadian Empire, was a huge game that centred around amassing forces to combat your opponent through smaller games - like Card games and dice games - before playing them on huge 3D boards you could walk around. Players had to progress from the Board of Origin to the Board of Form and finally the Board of Becoming before they could win the game. Pieces used in the game to represent units were partially biological, allowing them to change form based on how they were played or for players to interact with them on a deeper level. The game was so important to the Azad that their Emperor was chosen from 12,000 candidates in a huge Azad tournament, their mastery of the game a testament to their ability to lead the Empire. Pretty extreme for a board game - it'd be like running elections based on a game of Mouse Trap!

6. Cripple Mr. Onion, Discworld

Image Credit: Discworld Arcana cards by Jan Van Quirm

Trust Terry Pratchett to come up with his own absurdly quirky take on card games. Like many of the card games on this list, the fantastically named Cripple Mr. Onion (which first appeared in Wyrd Sisters) is essentially quite similar to Poker, except that players are dealt 10 cards, 5 face up, 5 face down, and must construct a winning set of cards in numerical order - with wonderful names like Triple Onion or a Bagel - or fold.

There's several fan-made sets of rules for the game that you can find online, but here's one allegedly approved by the man himself.

5. Kepesh-Yakshi, Mass Effect 3

I've no idea how we've gotten so far through this list without a holographic game showing up yet, but here we are - at least when we've got to one it's a corker.

Kepesh-Yakshi, an Asari game that translates into 'Blade of the Night Winds' is a two player space combat/strategy game where players pit fleets of frigates and cruisers against each other to attack and destroy their opponent's home world. The game was played on a hexagonal-gridded board that projected the pieces in 3D - and there's even neural feedback circuits in the game's controls, forcing a player to get a nasty shock when one of their pieces is destroyed. You can check the game out in action in this scene from Mass Effect 3's Citadel DLC, in which the Normandy's specialist Samantha Traynor goes up against her Kepesh-Yakshi tournament rival Polgara T'Suzsa, with a little help from Commander Shepard:

3D space chess that can electrocute your opponent? Count me in.

4. Pai Sho, Avatar: The Last Airbender

Pai Sho was popular in the multiple Nations of Avatar's world, with each culture having their own rules for the game - which borrowed elements from real world games like Go, Chinese Chequers and Xiangqi - but as with most things in Avatar, it was also a game that taught the importance of Balance. People loooooove themselves some Balance in Avatar.

The game itself was also used as a secret code - members of the Order of the White Lotus, a pan-Nation faction that backed the Avatar as well as sought to share knowledge and spirituality across the world would play their Pai Sho pieces in the shape of a White Lotus to identify themselves to other members of the secret society.

3. Dejarik, Star Wars

Just like Trek before it, Star Wars is also home to plenty of awesome games. There's card games like Sabacc (how Lando lost the Falcon to Han) and Pazaak, the game from Bioware and Obsidian's Knights of the Old Republic video games, but the ultimate one - and only one we've seen on screen - has to be the holographic chess/combat game R2 and Chewie play in A New Hope: Dejarik.

Dejarik pitted holographic representations of real and mythical monsters from the Galaxy Far, Far away against each other in a chess like game of strategy - and I'm amazed that there somehow hasn't been a real version of it (obviously that doesn't use holograms!) amongst the swathes of Star Wars merchandise over the years. I mean, look at it! One piece of advice though - don't challenge a Wookiee to a game.

2. Cyvasse, Game of Thrones

Image credit: A gorgeous 3D Printed Cyvasse board and pieces, by Dutchmogul on Thingiverse

Hailing from Volantis, Cyvasse has yet to show up on the TV show, but maybe when it does HBO will sell their own licensed version!

Cyvasse is a chess-like game played on a hexagonal board - Martin has likened it to something like Blitzkrieg or Stratego - where players field 10 unique pieces featuring names like the Knight, the Elephant and the most important piece of the game, the Dragon - in a bid to outsmart their opponent. Unfortunately despite it cropping up in the books multiple times, there aren't really any known rules to the game, so fans have had to make up their own. Cyvasse is popular in Dorne and Essos, so considering the show's heading there in its next season, maybe we'll see it in action there.

1. Triple Triad, Final Fantasy VIII

Final Fantasy has long been home to some great mini-game distractions from your quest to save the world, but none were so fiendishly addictive as Final Fantasy VIII's Triple Triad.

Protagonist Squall could challenge virtually anyone in the game's world to a round of Triple Triad, using cards collected from battle and other opponents. The goal was to lay out your selection of cards on the 3x3 grid in such a way that their best 'ranks', the four numbers on the card that represented the value of each facing side, bested your opponents - which would 'flip' the card into your control. Whoever controlled the most cards on the board when it was filled won the match, giving you the right to claim some of your opponents cards to add to your own collection. I think I played more Triple Triad than I did the main segment of FFVIII, and considering I've completed that game a good few times, that's a lot of Triple Triad.

In a way, Triple Triad did become a real game - only in Japan though. In 1999, Bandai released a set of 110 cards from the game as well as 72 collectors artwork cards and a playing mat as a CCG so fans could try their hand at Triple Triad for real. It was only ever sold in Japan and never in the West though, making it extremely rare. Who knows, maybe there'll be a wider available set when FFVIII celebrates its next big anniversary or something.

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You're reading Toybox, io9's new blog for all things pop culture. From merchandise to awesome fan creations, TV recaps and critical commentary on the hot topics of the day, you can find it all here!

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Everything Is Awesome? Lego Enters The Dark World Of Reality TV

Come play with us. For ever. And ever. And ever. Alex Eylar

By Baden Eunson, Monash University

Recently, the Danish Toymaker Lego announced its plans for a reality TV show to be launched in 2015, rumored to be based on the idea of Master Builders, the top "construction workers" in the insanely successful Lego Movie earlier this year.

Surely the show will be more about the minifigs than the personalities of the people putting them together? Well, no, recent history would suggest otherwise.

As Paris Hilton famously said of her reality program, which ran from 2003 to 2007:

Simple Life is a reality show and people might assume it's real. But it's fake. All reality shows are fake basically. When you have a camera on you, you are not going to act yourself.

Television has changed dramatically in the past two decades.

Back then there were a small number of cable or satellite channels and a few terrestrial networks broadcasting standard formats, based upon film studio production methods, of situation comedies, police/crime procedurals, quizzes, cartoons, and so on, using professional actors or presenters, working from scripts.

Paris Hilton takes her TV reality show to a party in Beirut. EPA/ Nabil Mounzer

Today, a very large proportion of its programming in all TV formats (free-to-air, cable, and satellite) could be meaningfully described as "reality" – as distinguishable from scripted shows with relatively high production values.

Reality TV covers a wide variety of formats such as personal makeovers, "Mr Right/The Bachelor" programs, survival, talent contests, cooking contests, home renovation contests, weight reduction contests, "real housewives of X city", docu-soaps (programs that appear to be documentaries but have the feel of soap operas), dancing competitions, job-seeking contests …

The origins of reality TV

One of the tropes of reality TV - the filming of non-actors in actual settings, usually entailing some trick or prank, must go back to Alan Funt's 1948 Candid Camera, a format revived by MTV with Punk'd in 2003.

Candid Camera, 1953.

But, like the hidden camera experiments of psychologist Stanley Milgram, those shows did not carry the taint of suspicions of it all being a put-up job - which takes us back to the question of what reality is.

In some respects, reality TV, or the vague feeling that we are watching something synthetic, goes back to an American historian Daniel J. Boorstin, who in 1962 produced a book called The Image: A Guide To Pseudo-Events In America.

Boorstin attacked "pseudo-events" such as press conferences, presidential debates (which existed merely to be reported) and publicity stunts concocted by public relations and advertising professionals.

He also attacked the manufacture of celebrity – "a person who is known for his well-known-ness" (later known as "famous for being famous"). His insights are almost eerie in their predictive power of "celebrity-industrial complex", within which much of reality TV exists.

Media academic Misha Kavka tracks the next phase of reality TV from 1999 onwards, calling it the age of Surveillance and Competition, with programs such as Big Brother and Survivor.

A series of industrial strikes by US actors, writers and extras in the late 1980s and early 1990s helped precipitate the search for production that would step around unions and search for lower-cost formats. Reality TV helped solve those.

Contestants of the 2006 series of American reality show Survivor. AAP/ Nine

Companies such as the Dutch company Endemol, E!, Bravo, and MTV were able to produce reality format shows at much lower costs than mainstream production houses and networks.

Endemol developed Big Brother and franchised the show throughout the world. Over time it developed more sophisticated programming, including conventional dramas and comedies, including Australia's Offspring.

Franchising of formats has provided a substantial source of income for developers.

Survivor, a game format show where people are "marooned" in harsh environments, launched in 1997 as a Swedish show, and debuted on US TV in 2000. It has been a ratings winner for more than a decade. Early morphings of reality TV (perhaps helping lower the bar of what was acceptable on TV) were "Trash TV" programs such as the talk shows of Maurie Povich and Jerry Springer.

Ordinary people and anti-talent

Kavka argues that "ordinary people" who appear on reality shows sometimes become celebrities themselves, but not always in ways they had anticipated.

Sara-Marie from the first series of Big Brother in Australia, who had been nominated for eviction six times before finally being voted out, was greeted on her exit with screams of adoration by a nation keen on replicating her joyful "bum dance" in pink pajamas and bunny ears.

Jemma, Peter and Sara Marie in the final eviction at the Big Brother household, 2001. AAP/ Dave Hunt

None of these sudden celebrities could be described as having talent. On the contrary, the very thing they became famous for - ignorance, malapropisms, turning one's bottom to the camera and slapping it - could be better described as "anti-talent".

Ray Richmond of the Hollywood Reporter counted 18 casting staff in the pre-production of a Gordon Ramsay cooking show:

Why does a program populated primarily by the actual employees and customers of real restaurants need 18 people to cast it? If the casting department's job is strictly scouting out the eateries and judging charisma and on-camera appeal, are they not in fact conducting auditions?

To a certain extent, then, the scene we see on screen - staff, angry chef, customers - is all pre-arranged. American media critic Jennifer Poszner has described the way reality TV producers will often look for stereotypes to cast – such as the so-called slut or the dumb jock – so role-taking on the part of participants, at variance from their normal behavior, seems to be the norm.

Contestants on the Idol/Voice franchises sometimes appear in Ford commercials, thus breaking down the barriers between show and commercial breaks - a weird inversion of product placement.

When Survivor cast member Jerri Manthey appeared on a 2004 interview show, the audience could only focus on the manufactured persona of Manthey as a villain on the show and booed her off: as she fled, she cried "We're real people too!"

Humilitainment and schadenfreude

It is also true that the confected conflict built into many reality shows leads to what has been called "Humilitainment" - the entertainment value we apparently are meant to derive as contestants are bullied, critiqued and undergo rituals of shame, degradation and embarrassment as they are excluded from a competitive situation - expelled from Reality Garden of Eden.

As Ben Pobjie observed about Masterchef in the Sydney Morning Herald:

But look, the important thing is: somebody is going to cry.

Masterchef Judges Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston and George Calombaris. AAP/ Network Ten

Some analysts have linked this phenomenon to that of the German concept of Schadenfreude - the pleasure one derives from the suffering of others. This is often exacerbated by the absurdly melodramatic pausing of judges giving their in-or-out verdict on the contestants.

The economics of celebrity is also tied up with how money is made out of the shows.

The Kardashian family produces books, clothing brands, nail polishes, perfumes, diet supplements, cosmetics and clothing boutiques. Endorsements of other products earned them US$65 million in 2010. Social media accelerated these processes.

Additional money flows into the coffers when shows split revenues with telephony service providers viewers use to phone or text in to vote for a contestant. Kavka argues that once a person has spent money on a call, they are more likely to spend money on the iTunes download, a single, an album or a ticket to a live performance - in other words, they become emotionally invested.

Pop culture scholar Leigh Edwards points out that Coca-Cola thinks it is worth US$64 million a year to have Coke containers in front of the judges of American Idol, another example of product placement.

Perhaps crucially, reality TV is so much cheaper to produce than conventional high-production value shows - anywhere from 50% to 10% of the cost.

Constructing a Frankenbite

While much of reality TV seems to be live, to be happening in real time, such is often not the case.

Shows such as The Apprentice may have a shooting period of five months, and even the talent shows may have multiple re-takes. On some shows such as Big Brother and the Kardashians, hundreds of hours of tape or film may be shot, which means editing becomes very important.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West at The GQ Men of the Year Awards at Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, September 2014. AAP/ NEWZULU/ Richard Goldschmidt

Because so much film is shot in reality programs, editing assumes a greater importance than it normally would. Here, Jeff Dawson discusses some tricks of the trade:

So what is a Frankenbite? Simply put, a Frankenbite is an interview bite that has been CONSTRUCTED (capitals in original) from fragments of otherwise unrelated interview material. It is a sentence or series of sentences MANUFACTURED in the edit, as opposed to a sentence of series of sentences actually captured 'in reality' on set. This is called CHEATING. A Frankenbite follows the same logic, but takes it to a more extreme level. In a Frankenbite, words - even word fragments - are elements to be drawn from and manipulated any which way needed to best tell the story.

He offers some hypothetical monologue from Keeping Up with the Kardashians:

Kim: I buy couture and I love it.

Some people might really hate me for saying that.

Khloe is the youngest. Though if you ask her, she says she's the most mature. And she looked at me like … stand up! You can't sit there all day!

Frankenbite: I hate Khloe. I really can't stand her.

On a Bachelor-type show, Joe Millionaire, editors re-cut audio to make it sound like the male and a female contestant were having sex in the woods, when that was not true. It's amazing that this is legal in the US.

Contestant Joelene during Network Ten's The Bachelor. AAP/ Network Ten

Many people who participate in reality TV programs quite enjoy the experience, but there are several dark sides. US journalist Stacy Lambe tracks the number of reality "stars" who ended up doing pornography, while Hollywood Reporter in its analysis of "train-wreck TV" raises "questions about reality's exploitation of the sick, weak and mentally ill as insiders reveal a one-sided dynamic where the 'star' almost always loses".

This is mainly about the contrast between the very low pay of participants and the millions earned by producers.

The reality of reality is therefore often grim: while there have been tens of thousands across the planet who have participated in the talent show franchises, there have only been one or two that have had some type of major success (but not so much of late), such as Kelly Clarkson and Susan Boyle, which is not a spectacular average.

Many talk of this being a golden age of television, with high-budget, high production values, high-concept shows such as Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. But there seems to have been a hollowing-out of shows in the middle, with low-cost reality TV at the other end of the spectrum.

But let's not get snooty: reality/unreality TV "stars" are the sages of our age. Sit back, and enjoy their wisdom.

And if that fails, crack out your Lego set and get building.

Baden Eunson, Adjunct Lecturer, School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash University, does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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The 10 Best Celebrity Couple Halloween Costumes Of All Time

(via)

If you and your significant other are still looking for the perfect couples costume to wear on Halloween, but all our brilliant suggestions from last week just aren't fancy enough for you, I think I can help you out. Right after I finish being offended that you didn't like my ideas. I mean, Lea Michele and Jessica Lange? That was genius. Admit it. Whatever.

Anyway, if those suggestions really aren't good enough, why not look to the celebrities for inspiration? They like to get in on the Halloween fun just as much as normals, maybe even more so, and they even dress up in couples costumes sometimes! So I rounded up what I think are the ten best examples for your your perusal. Some of these couples are even still together! Crazy, right?

1. Heidi Klum and Seal as robots

(Photo: Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com)

Everyone knows that nobody does Halloween better than Heidi Klum. She's amazing. And before she and Seal split up, they were a couples costume force to be reckoned with. There are quite a few excellent examples to choose from, but I'm partial to this sci-fi one. Look how tall Heidi is!

2. Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Justin Mikita as Batman and Robin

(Photo: Greg Tidwell/Pacific Coast News)

This is quite a popular choice for celebrity couples, it turns out, but I like this example the best because there are bow ties involved. You can never go wrong with a bow tie.

3. Kate Moss and Jamie Hince as Morticia and Gomez

(Photo: WENN)

Wow. Fabulous. They're stylish and accurate and just plain awesome. And look at that fancy candy apple Kate's holding!

4. Julianne Hough and Ryan Seacrest as Bonnie and Clyde

(Photo: Instagram)

A year before Julianne Hough decided to don blackface for her OITNB-inspired costume, she and her then-boyfriend Ryan Seacrest put this little number together, and I regret to inform you that I love it.

5. Fergie and Josh Duhamel as Elvira and Riff Raff

(Photo: Michael Wright/WENN.com)

These two always do something great, and last year it was particularly fabulous. What I like is that they're characters from different universes but they still obviously go together. So it's not cliche but it's also not totally random.

6. Kate Beckinsale and Len Wiseman as the Frankensteins

(Photo: PacificCoastNews.com)

I really want to high five Kate for balancing that enormous wig on her head and managing to look elegant. I just hope Len could breathe under that mask. The sunglasses are a nice touch.

7. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart as… whatever this is

(Photo: PacificCoastNews.com)

The Halloween after the big cheating scandal, when their relationship was still in an are-they-or-aren't-they state, Robsten put together the most Robsten Halloween costume possible, wearing their normal casual clothes and just donning a couple of transparent masks. And I can't help it, I'm obsessed.

8. Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard as Daenerys and Khal Drogo

(Photo: Twitter)

They're quite possibly the world's cutest  couple, so obviously they put together a great Halloween costume last year. The lift makes it.

9. Sophia Bush and Austin Nichols as Katy Perry and Russell Brand

(Photo: WhoSay)

They've since broken up, but they can still say they put together a pretty stellar Halloween costume during their time as a couple. A celebrity couple dressing as another celebrity couple — so meta.

10. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West as a mermaid and sailor

(Photo: Instagram)

Please look at this picture. Do they not look like a couple about to go to prom? Look at Kanye's smile! He's wearing rolled-up pants and loafers, for crying out loud! By the way, Kim's wig here cost $2,000.

Click here to see more great Halloween costume ideas!

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Digital Cover: Lil' Mo is Real - Talks New Book & Album, Reality TV, Gossip, More

DJ JusMusic Mon, Oct 27, 2014

Singer, songwriter, radio personality, author, and actress, Lil' Mo, debuted on the music scene as Missy Elliott's protégée after signing with Elektra Records in 1998 -- She collaborated with the legendary rapper/producer on various songs including the hit single "Hot Boyz." During that time, Mo also collaborated with Ja Rule on hit records like "Put It On Me," and "I Cry," further extending her brand as a new artist and a force to be reckoned with. In 2001, Mo received her big break with her first solo hit single "Superwoman Pt. II," a collaboration with rapper Fabolous, which peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single also paved the way for her debut album, Based on a True Story, which peaked at #14 on the Billboard 200 chart and received rave reviews -- the album was also certified gold by the RIAA.

Since her debut, Lil' Mo released four more solo albums, including the newly released project, The Scarlet Letter, led by the single "Should've Never Let You Go." In addition to music, Lil' Mo has expanded her brand over the years, adding radio personality, author, and actress to her growing resume. Most notably, you can watch Mo on TV One's "R&B Divas: LA," which premiered in July 2013.

If you've never met Lil' Mo personally, then you've definitely missed the opportunity to be in the presence of someone real and down to earth. Check out our Digital Cover sit down with the pint-size fire cracker as she talks openly about her new book, Taming Lil' Mo, her new album, reality TV, handling gossip, and much more.

Tell us about your new book "Taming Lil' Mo."

Its piggy backing off of the Diva Logs we performed on "R&B Divas: LA" season finale for season one. It deals with the biggest battle that goes on between the twins, Cynthia vs. Lil Mo. Cynthia being the business side vs. Lil Mo, the image, the character, the monster that I've created. It also gives people an in depth look and feel for my whole duration in the music industry as well as my life growing up, and why I am the way I am. I grew up in a two-parent household, but a lot of people think that I had this perfect life, like all we did was go to church and eat dinner together, but there were a lot of things that went on. You have to read the book so you can get a better feel of who I am. I'm not just a singer, I'm an author, a mom, a wife… there's so much to Lil Mo.

Since it's like a biography, do you plan to extend it one day?

I really do want to extend it. I'm a handful and I really feel like if I give you too much at one time, you're not going to be able to handle it. That's like overdosing! This right here is just the build up to the greatest story ever told. There are still parts of my life that's still being written. Even though this book ends in a happy place, I'm still going through things; there's still more of my story to tell. At the end of the day, I'm telling my story my way, and that's the only way I would have it.

Cool, so tell us about the making and the creative process of your new album, The Scarlet Letter.

The making of this project took place during the filming of the second season of "R&B Divas: LA." How ironic, right? I was actually recording the song, "Just Not That Into You," as one of my scenes and just my whole storyline coming back for a second season. I thought, let me put out a single like I did the first time to hold the people over until they see me again. The single ended up turning into an EP, which turned into a whole album, because I just kept on recording. I ended up recording about fourteen songs and we kept ten; we might add some remixes.

Why did you name the album, The Scarlet Letter?

The title, The Scarlet Letter, I knew that it was going to attract attention. I think I was walking past an old library or a thrift store when I saw the book, and immediately I was like, 'that's the title of my next album.' From there, all the music fell under the concept.

How do you balance music and reality TV?

Music is something people have come to know and love me for; my singing voice, but when you get to see the personal side of me relive what I'm going through on reality TV, it's just like, how do you balance that out? The way that I heal and get into my mood is being in the studio. Singing for me is therapeutic; thank God I can sing in real life.

When people think about Lil' Mo musically, there's never a doubt that it's not going to be real, so as you dig deeper into these songs, what's driving the content? Is it your current happiness, your past sadness, what is it?

This album is taking it back to the true essence of Based on a True Story, the essence of Lil Mo. It's not just based on current happiness because happiness, smiles, love; all that stuff changes. But honestly, this may be one they call the honeymoon or courting period, because I'm still in the first year of me being in a new relationship. I'm also in the first year of me accepting myself actually wanting to be happy. For this project, I wanted to share what got me to my happy place – It took some losing to win again situations, it took some divorces, it took some deleting people, things, negativity, things I was accustomed to in my life, things that I was holding on to that was actually holding me back. This album has to come out for me to heal.

So, fans that are going through their own issues will be able to use this body of work in their healing process?

This is the cheapest way to keep your sanity if you really want to be sane or you can go pay that man $400 a session so he can tell you you're a little bit crazy, and they put you on all these types of medications. This is my detox album. I don't just sing songs to sing them, even if it's not about me; I usually fill someone else's shoes.

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Reality TV a ripple effect for 'Pond Stars'

Greg Wittstock, left, and Brian Helfrich, who star in Nat Geo Wild's "Pond Stars" TV show, are pictured at the Aquascape, Inc. headquarters in St. Charles, Ill. (John Konstantaras/Chicago Tribune/MCT)

The title of the new series "Pond Stars" may just sound like an easy play on the already running "Pawn Stars," but it is very serious about the pond part of its name.

The Nat Geo Wild channel show is about guys who make elaborate backyard ponds, streams and other water features — two projects per hourlong episode — and they do it from a business based in St. Charles, Ill.

In fact, Greg Wittstock, head of the company, Aquascape, says he owes his business, his big west suburban house and, now, his TV renown to an article on him that appeared 22 years ago, in the Chicago Tribune's old Tempo DuPage section.

"I was just a kid building ponds," Wittstock, now 44, said the other day, seated on a big armchair at his business's headquarters, a lavish work-play hybrid space dubbed "Aqualand." "And then, suddenly, I had hundreds of people wanting ponds. Literally, that story turned a summer job into a career."

Now he's trying to turn his experience into that modern next step, a role on television playing, pretty much, himself, alongside his two longest-serving employees, Brian Helfrich and Ed Beaulieu.

Asked if he is "a little on pins and needles" about being picked up for a second season, Wittstock said, deadpan: "Not at all. We are totally on pins and needles."

And to hear him tell it, the desire is not so much to boost his business or to be recognized around the suburbs of Chicago, although that has happened. (He took a picture of a guy taking a picture of him, Wittstock said.)

Rather, the goal is to spread the good news about backyard ponds. They're pretty to look at, he said. They're healthy for the environment. And you can even swim in them, if you build one the right way and big enough.

But there you go. Wittstock's enthusiasm is so infectious that now we've caught the backyard pond bug. We also want to work in his office, where there is an indoor basketball court, a weight room and themed bedrooms fo r overnight stays. Oh, and, of course, there's an enormous pond out front where, if invited, you can scuba dive or just jump in to cool off.

We have to remember that we came out to St. Charles mostly just to talk to Wittstock and Helfrich, 38, his company's designer, about the reality of being on reality TV. They've seen valued, veteran co-workers quit, Wittstock said, "jealous" that they weren't part of the TV show.

And they've learned the ropes of reality, which is more about delivering a TV show than producing a dispassionate documentary.

What follows has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Q: What do you think of the show name?

Wittstock: At first I hated it, but it's kind of grown on me. We gave them 75 different names to choose from. "The Aquascapers." "Koi Boys." "Pond Guys" is kind of the traditional one. "Pondemonium." Yeah. You know what? I'm OK with the name. They're very happy with the name, so that's OK.

Q: It does speak to the rea lity audience.

Wittstock: I guess so. This is their business. It's not mine. And Hollywood is a wacky world. I'm a business guy. I'm a CEO of a company. And this is very creative, artistic. It's a different process.

Q: How did it start? How did you get the reality show?

Wittstock: There was a producer out in LA surfing the Internet, wanting to buy plants for her pond. She stumbled across our YouTube channel, Aquascape No. 4, and watched a couple of videos. Then she saw the video of Brian's backyard, which has a couple of hundred thousand views, and said, "These guys, they should have their own show." This is not something new for us. Everybody's been saying, "You've got to do a reality show," for years. And we'd actually gone through and filmed a pilot before that never came to fruition.

Q: OK, so this producer sees this YouTube thing. Then what happens?

Wittstock: We signed a contract with them to pitch the show, and nothing happened. That was December of 2012. And nothing happened until fall of 2013, when things started heating up. And then in January of 2014, Animal Planet purchased our show, paid for a production company to produce a mini episode. And then after that got produced, they chose not to run with our show, and we ended up finding a manager, and he took us to Nat Geo Wild, and Nat Geo Wild picked us up.

Q: Was that with the original production company?

Wittstock: The original production company is just being paid, but they've never produced any footage. Yes, it's a wacky Hollywood role.

Q: You get the money, but you don't have to do the work. So what did you think when they said they wanted to pick it up?

Wittstock: Ah, well, yeah! We had no idea what to think, and when we started to do it, we were blown away by the process of making a reality show. It was a thousand times harder than any of us could have ever imagined.

I had to re-change my context, that I was (now) shooting a reality s how and every once in a while getting to build a pond.

Q: Yeah, I wondered about that. How much does it interfere with your ability to actually do your business?

Wittstock: We need to focus on producing a show, and this is my job as the CEO of the company now. I have a president that fortunately runs the company day to day. But whatever we were doing before the show, we're not going to be doing whenever the show starts filming.

Q: So you're just working on these specific projects (in the episodes).

Wittstock: Yes. Setting them up. Filming them. Even when you're not filming them outside, you've got to do pickups and OTFs, on-the-fly interviews, just so they can sync all this stuff together. So it's a full-time job.

Q: I want to point out that Greg (Wittstock) just sat down with the biggest water bottle I've ever seen.

Wittstock: It's 70 ounces, and it's my Bubba, and it's iced tea.

Q: It looks like a beer keg. You've got to specify. So are yo u a little stunned by the process, or at the end of it, are you sort of getting used to it?

Wittstock: It was very emotional for me. They were filming a reality show about my life. We did not know how it would turn out. The first time we saw what they shot was basically when it was done. We were happy with the end result, but also it was a little bit nerve-wracking to see how they would portray you. And you don't have any say in it.

Helfrich: It was interesting. (Speaking to Wittstock) remember how much time we spent putting together, like, little mini-scripts? Like, "Oh, this would be funny to do here, and this here, and this here?" So we spent all this time before the very first episode putting together what could be funny little segments. They asked us to put together stuff like that, and I think they wanted it really heavily scripted in the beginning but then quickly realized we weren't actors and that we had enough chemistry just being ourselves.

Q: Yeah, I wo ndered about that because you get the sense watching some of these reality shows that, you know, "that had to be a line fed by the producers."

Wittstock: Exactly. And truthfully, most of our "lines" were because of an airplane or because of the cameras. So if I would say something that was funny and Brian would laugh at it, then they would be, "Oh, do that again," and then they would move the cameras. And this is where it's hard to come off as natural. If it was actually that the cameras were in the right position and the sound was good, they could just film. But it's really hard to do that.

Q: So having gone through six episodes — again, this is a question I've always had — how much reality is a reality show?

Helfrich: It's almost all reality. Where it feels unnatural is where they say, "Do it again." They never say, "Make the giant rock fall on Ed." That really happened.

Or like that episode with the snake, that's just us goofing around, but we have to let the cameras know that, "Hey, we're about to goof around." So two people know: The person that's gonna play the prank, and the cameraperson. Everybody else has no idea. And we do that stuff on a day-to-day basis all the time. We dig holes and move rocks and put 'em together again in a nice way. And to get through the day, we goof around a lot. So I think that's what they like about us.

Q: So you're sometimes saying things that have been suggested, like, "We need you to say this as a transition," or something like that?

Wittstock: Yes. The transitions. So what they'll do is they lay out all the footage, and there's hundreds of hours of footage for a show. And then they'll say, "We're gonna grab this, we're gonna grab this, we're gonna grab this." So they'll come to me or Brian and say, "Here's what we need you to say." So it's after the fact. You'll say, "OK, I need Brian over here right now because we've got to get this thing done." Well, that's just us feeding a line that will connect two scenes together.

Q: So that part is the stand-ups, where you're facing the camera. But it feels (overall) true to you and accurate and honest?

Wittstock: Yes. The end product, we actually build the waterfalls. All the reveals with the customers, that really occurs. They might stop them and say, "Hey hold that; there's a plane." It's amazing how many planes.

Q: Are you a little on pins and needles about the renewal?

Wittstock: Not at all. We're totally on pins and needles.

Helfrich: I think it's just the waiting. Because if the show happens, well, my job is the show. If not, well, I've got customers all over Chicago.

Q: But you really want it.

Wittstock: Um, this is a dream for me, because I took my hobby that I started in my parents' garage as a college kid, built it into the world's largest company in its space — I'm a big fish in a small pond — and now I have cameras filming what I actually do, which nobody under stands. So for me to create that level of awareness out in the marketplace? I couldn't ask for a better gift than for this opportunity with a, you know, reality television show.

Q: Why is that important?

Wittstock: This is my passion. This is my baby. This is my hobby. I mean, I'm married with kids, but this is my baby. I created this vision for this industry and this business because of my love of turtles. So 100 percent it's to spread the message and the word. It's a long flight when you sit next to me on an airplane and ask me, "What do you do?"

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Real Alabama Weddings: Love and Sikhs create joyful, gorgeous, sacred ceremonies in Huntsville

Real Alabama Weddings

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - The evening when Dr. Ravinder Singh Gogia, a dermatological surgeon, asked Sunaina Kaur Mehta, who grew up in Huntsville, Ala., to marry him, the setting could not have been more romantic - or more apt for their shared histories as bridge-building first-generation Americans.

Mehta remembers that they were overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, that great Western gate to the United States. Mehta, a treasury management specialist for the Bank of America, had been introduced to the tall surgeon nearly a year before when mutual friends had brought them together for a double date.

Both Gogia and Mehta are the children of professionals who grew up in India, survived the chaos of the partition years, when Pakistan was formed, and immigrated to the United States. And both Gogia and Mehta are devout Sikhs, members of the religion that developed in the late 15th century in the Punjab, a region in what is today northwest India. Under the teachings of founder Guru Nanak, the faith emphasizes monotheism and respect and equality for all people without regard to caste or gender.

Their wedding festivities were held in in the North Hall of the Von Braun Center in Huntsville on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3 and 4, 2014. Mehta's father, NASA scientist Dr. Rajinder Singh Mehta, believes the gathering of more than 600 relatives and friends is probably one of the largest Sikh weddings to be held in the state of Alabama. The ceremonies were festive and dignified, playful and reverent. The guests wore a brilliant rainbow of bejeweled silks. The traditional music kept everything moving to beats that seemed at once ancient and new. 333 Designs of Huntsville, incorporated family heirloom drapes into the huge chuppah that sheltered the scripture stand.

Sikh Wedding I Huntsville, Ala. 10.4.14 Here comes the groom! Ravinder Singh Gogia officially arrives for his marriage to Sunaina Kaur Mehta, of Huntsville, Ala., riding the traditional white horse and dressed with the traditional jeweled veil of the Sikh groom. Surrounded by his strong friends, his family is met by the family of the bride -- who playfully steal his shoes. The festivities took place behind the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala., Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014. (Kay Campbell/KCampbell@AL.com)

Wedding Steps

Friday's Evening Sangeet: Engagement party perfumed with the spicy aroma of North Indian cuisine. The groom's parents arrived with gifts for the bride. There was traditional singing and dancing, and the exchange of rings between the bride and the groom.

Wedding Day Baraat and Milnee: The groom's family, led by a drummer and moving to the beat of traditional music played through a sound system wired to an SUV's battery, came dancing through a back access lot to the Von Braun in an exuberant Baraat. The groom, wearing a silver veil to signify the blessings of his family, rode a white horse and carrying a sword. For the Milnee, meeting, the bride's family - after sending out scouts who playfully stole the groom's shoes - met the groom's family and shared prayers for the guidance of the upcoming marriage.

Sikh Wedding scriptures 10.4.14 The Guru Adi Granth Sahib Jee, the Sikh scriptures, are read as song. A Sikh marriage ceremony, called the Anand Kaaraj, a "blissful union," is a service to mark the beginning of the couple's spiritual journey together. Ravinder Singh Gogia, the groom, and Sunaina Kaur Mehta, the bride, of Huntsville, Ala., sit between their families and before the platform where the scripture is held, to hear the scriptures during their wedding on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014, in Huntsville, Ala. (Kay Campbell/KCampbell@AL.com)

Meanwhile, the bride was dressing with the help of her sister, Dr. Madhu Kaur Singh, and friends, who made sure each piece of her symbolic jewelry was in place and that the beaded scarf that covered her hair was perfectly draped.

Wedding Ardaas, Prayers: For the wedding ceremony, the main platform was reserved for the Guru Granth, the holy scriptures of Sikhism, not for the couple. Someone attended the book with the attention due a king. As guests entered, they offered a symbolic offering, usually a dollar, and then bowed in reverence to the teachings before being seated on men's or women's side. All covered their heads out of respect for the scripture. The bride and groom were the last to enter.

Sikh Wedding vows 10.4.14 Dr. Ravinder Singh Gogia, the groom, and Sunaina Kaur Mehta, the bride, of Huntsville, make their first wedding vows together as they walk together around the platform where the Guru Adi Granth, the Sikh scripture, is placed, during their wedding ceremony in Huntsville, Ala., on Oct. 4, 2014. The couple bow to the scripture to show respect and acceptance of its teachings for each of the 4 wedding vows. Walking around the platform symbolizes the lifelong spiritual journey the couple will take together. (Kay Campbell/KCampbell@AL.com)

While Sikhs have religious scholars they look to for teaching, they have no clergy. Each Sikh, male and female, is expected to be able to sing the scriptures. Traditional music for the ceremony came from young people who have all worked at a summer camp for Sikhs in Tennessee.

Sikhia, Teaching: Sangeeta Kaur, a longtime friend of the bride who has, gave a short talk pointing to teachings from the scriptures as guides for the couple in their marriage and to remind them of their duties as Sikhs.

 

Sikh Wedding song 10.4.14 Sunaina Kaur Mehta sings traditional bride's songs during her Sikh marriage ceremony to Ravinder Singh Gogia, who is seated behind her to the left, in Huntsville, Ala., on Oct. 4, 2014. Mehta has taught at a summer camp for Sikh youth for years, teaching how to read and chant the Sikh scriptures and teaching traditional Sikh songs. (Kay Campbell/KCampbell@AL.com)

Laavan, Vows: The bride's father handed the end of the groom's palaa, scarf, to the bride to signify their coming together as one. After the reading of each of the four vows, the couple, each holding the palaa, made a careful circuit of the scriptures, a walk that signifies the beginning of their spiritual journey together.

Langar: At the end of the service, all are served sweet dough as a symbol of accepting the readings and also of the equality of all to eat together.

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